Reaching out to Photographers

A few weeks back, Chase Jarvis hosted another Seattle photo enthusiast get together. He put out the call on Twitter and in a matter of minutes, the number of slots available filled up. After all, people up in Seattle know what these things are all about. Photography. Trying new things out. Pushing oneself. The chance to play with gear that you've never worked with before. And, lets not forget the ever-important camaraderie over drinks afterword.

The venue for the event was an indoor skatepark. This gave everyone a chance to work with athletes doing their thing with strobes to freeze motion. For most of the people there, it was their first chance to really see what was possible when you combine high-power high-speed strobes with action. Strobes that can keep up with cameras motoring along at 8+ frames per second. I dove in and shot as well, but mostly I hung out with several of the attendees and we talked about how to set up shots, pick and angle, and nail a shot. I watched some kick ass pictures come up on many a digital SLR back.

So far, I've been lucky enough to trek up to Seattle for two of Chase's events. He's done a few more over the years and from what I hear, they've all been awesome. So far, I've not seen anything else like it anywhere else in the country and that's a shame.

To be sure, part of the secret sauce is that Chase has been super generous with his time, access, and staff. He's also got a kick ass studio to retreat to after the shooting ends to party it up in. But, really, I think this sort of thing should be possible to do anywhere. All it needs is somebody—or a few people—to get together and sort out how they want to reach out to photographers in their area. It could be anywhere. New York. Albuquerque. Kansas City. Sacramento. Anywhere.